For the Beauty of the Earth

For the beauty of the earth
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise, This our hymn of grateful praise.

 For the beauty of each hour,
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon, and stars of light.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise, This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the joy of ear and eye,
For the heart and mind’s delight,
For the mystic harmony
Linking sense to sound and sight.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise, This our hymn of grateful praise.

 For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth and friends above,
For all gentle thoughts and mild.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise, This our hymn of grateful praise.

For Thy Church, that evermore
Lifteth holy hands above,
Offering up on every shore
Her pure sacrifice of love.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise, This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the martyrs’ crown of light,
For Thy prophets’ eagle eye,
For Thy bold confessors’ might,
For the lips of infancy.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise, This our hymn of grateful praise.

 

  For Thy virgins’ robes of snow,

For Thy maiden mother mild,

For Thyself, with hearts aglow,

Jesu, Victim undefiled.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise, This our hymn of grateful praise.

 For each perfect gift of Thine,

To our race so freely given,

Graces human and divine,

Flowers of earth and buds of Heaven.

 Lord of all, to Thee we raise, This our hymn of grateful praise.

What an amazing adventure at Holmes Creek !  JW, Bubba, and I went with the Amazing McFamily!  We all enjoyed a fun filled day of absorbing God's beautiful creations....along with a day of much needed rain! 

I have to admit, I started off the trip with a bit of skepticism due to the weather.  However, we all had the best time!  The springs we were able to see were breathtaking.  Not to mention the water temp would take your breath away too!  If you have never been, you just need to go!  It was like swimming in a pool with a white sandy bottom.    The scenery was never ending. Absolute  B E A U T Y  everywhere you turned!!!

(Thank you McFamily for letting me post some of your pics!  The underwater pics ROCK!)

A Fabulous Fourth and Then Some!

What a fabulous Fourth at the lake!  We enjoyed wonderful times with fantastic friends and family.  I loved every second of our vacation.  
Our Neighbor-friends came and spent a few days with us and it made us love them even more!  Their family is so precious and precious to us.  We had a fabulous time playing, talking, reading (yes even reading), swimming, catching frogs, eating, and watching fireworks!  What a gift it is to have them as neighbors!  Not to mention one day Neighbor Sister will marry our Bubba!  ;)  One day!  (OK.....maybe not until Bubba is 50-ish!)

More friends came Saturday for a total of 13!  We had a blast!  We even played "Chubby Bunny" that evening.  OK...it was hilarious!  For those of you who don't know about the game of Chubby Bunny, to win you must have the most marshmallows in your mouth without swallowing.  Neighbor J beat us all with a total of 6!  Amazing!

We saw a boat parade Saturday night and several firework shows!  In fact, we had firework shows Sunday and Monday nights as well!  It was such a treat!

Isn't God amazing?  Don't you just see Him in everything?  Everywhere?  Everyday?  Just thinking of the special moments over the past few days......brings me to tears with thankfulness!  We would be NOTHING without the visible version, Jesus and what he did for us!  I tell you, I am a sinner and am so thankful for God's grace!  

JW and I went canoeing (& kayaking) early this morning!  I was awakened by God's glorious creations on, around, and even beneath the water!

The beginning of our trip.

Beautiful cypress trees.

Plants growing in a stump!

The sun rising.  ;)

Captain JW paddling his wife around the lake so she can take pictures!

What sweet memories we have from this Fourth!  Happy Birthday America!